I am an older man and disabled so I do the home work while my lovely wife teaches school. She came home with a major dry erase mark on her new pink blouse from Costco. I went to this site ThriftyFun. Of course alcohol, dry erase board cleaner, and OxiClean didn't even touch it. And being a colored shirt, I didn't dare use bleach type products. What worked very well was Murphy's Oil Soap and Banana Boat 50 sunscreen. So thanks for all your tips.

I am a teacher and was accidentally written on with a dry erase marker by one of my students. I had black dry erase marker on a favorite bright pink tshirt. I tried alcohol, the dry erase board cleaning spray, Murphy's Oil Soap, sunscreen and hand sanitizer. The stain had barely changed. I remembered I had some fels naptha bar soap that I've used for other stubborn stains so I scrubbed some on my tshirt and the stain started fading immediately. I've had my bar for a while, but I think you can find it at Wal-Mart or order it online. Good luck!

I let my little grandson scribble with a dry erase marker and he got it all over his shirt. I was really surprised that it would be so difficult to get out. I tried all the tips listed, except for the ink remover. Alcohol did nothing, Goof-off did nothing. Murphy's Oil Soap finally began to budge the color. Then I remembered my Spot Shot carpet cleaner. That took it right out.

Now, was it a combination of everything that went before or just the Spot Shot I am not sure. I am so grateful something works.

Mine was blue and been sitting for right over a month and my mom washed and almost completely dried it, was dry on the marks. Mind you, it got on my bamboo placemat and I couldn't get it out. I sprayed a little dreft stain n rubbed, added 91% Alcohol rubbed, and then rubbed a fels naptha bar on and rubbed. It came right out, easiest remedy I've tried yet!

I just used Ocean Potion Sunscreen with a white cloth behind my daughter's rash guard shirt.. the stain is gone! I hand-washed out the residue and will put it in the next load. It will be all ready to pass along. Wow! Thanks for the tip!

First I tried Murphy's Oil Soap on the water-wetted shirt spot. It took a bit of the stain out, but not much. Then I sprayed Top Job Spot & Stain carpet cleaner, it comes in a red plastic spray container, directly onto the spot and rubbed it with an old white cotton sock.

Murphy's Oil Soap removed an old blue Dry Erase Marker stain from a brand-new soft pink cotton blouse. I had tried to pre-soak it and had washed it many days earlier and let it dry. The stain was a bit faded but still very noticeable. I just tried the Murphy's soap with a white towel below and dabbed with a paper towel, moving around on the towel. The blue stain was tranferred to the towel below until it was completely gone from the blouse. There is no trace of stain on my blouse.

Wow! the sunscreen worked. My 3 year-old daughter got blue dry erase marker all over her new dress from Macy's, of course it matches her sister's so I was devastated. My DH said he took care of it when we got home which meant he sprayed it with Spray and Wash and set it on the dryer where it sat for weeks heating and reheating. I tried scrubbing, rewashing, Murphy's Oil Soap, rewashing and then MOS again, but using white paper towels and expired Water Babies Sunscreen worked. It took some elbow grease, but the stains are out! Thx spicmom for the post.

The Murphy's Oil Soap worked for me. My 16 month old got an expo marker from her oldest sister (yes, the 13 year old gave her an OPEN expo marker) and she got it over her other sister's comforter. I tried to spray it with Shout, and that did not work. The Murphy's Oil Soap took it out, even after washing it. I scrubbed it with a toothbrush and had a clean towel underneath to absorb the color.

How do you remove dry-erase stains from a white polyurethane vest? I have tried rubbing alcohol, Murphy's Oil soap, Oxi Clean spray, and have washed it. I have not put in dryer. Nothing even touches it.

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

My 18 month old put blue and green polka dots ALL OVER my suede cloth couch and pillows with a dry erase marker. I ran and grabbed my toothbrush and started frantically trying everything I had to get the stains out. I tried soap 2 minutes after the stains happened and nothing, then Shout and nothing, then Oxi-clean and nothing, then Fabuloso and nothing as well.

Then I tried Murphy's Oil Soap an hour later and amazingly it took all 50 stains right out. You just dab the Murphy's oil soap on affected areas, leave for one minute, scrub with a toothbrush and it comes right off! Of course with my light suede material I had to wet down all the cushions and pillows so you can't see water spots. Then put the cushions and pillows outside on the trampoline to dry. You will be amazed! (08/20/2009)

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Ok, if you are going to do the Murphy's oil soap trick, read this: Put a paper towel under the stain (inside the clothing). Don't just dab the spot with the Murphy's Oil Soap, pour it on (well enough to cover the stain). Then I took a butter knife and used the end to scrape the stain (I put it on the table for leverage) and it worked!

Right before this miracle I tried the rubbing alcohol and a little dabbed off, then I wet it. Then I tried the Spray N Wash Max (nothing happened), and then I wet it to get that off and did the Murphy's oil soap. To my amazement it worked! (10/14/2009)

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

My son got dry erase marker on a t-shirt and on the white "iron-on" letters that personalized the shirt. I tried rubbing alcohol first, but it didn't take any of it off. I then washed it with Cheer, Zout and Oxi-Clean, no luck. And I had no luck with the described Dawn or Murphys' Oil soap. (Goo Gone didn't work either.)

Then I remembered having the numbers on a key pad smear off when my hands were greasy with sunscreen. Believe it or not it worked. I used Coppertone Water Babies. The shirt was damp from the washer, so I put a paper towel underneath the stain and then rubbed in a dollop of sunscreen with another paper towel. The blue marker came off on the paper towel. I just kept rotating the paper towels until all the marker was gone. I had to put new sunscreen on after it had soaked into the material. It blotted through on the underside too, and I moved the spot to a clean area each time. It came off the white numbers, and the red material without harming the shirt in any way. Then I just laundered the shirt again to get out all the sunscreen. Odd, but it worked. (10/23/2009)

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

It worked! My daughter got it on a 100% polyester satin dress, red in color, and the Murphy's oil soap worked. I just put a clean cloth behind it and used an old toothbrush. I dipped the toothbrush in the soap and scrubbed the material. You do have to continue to move the clothing to a clean part of the cloth/towel. It transfers to the cloth you put behind it, after it seemed like the stain was gone. I used some dawn dish soap water mixture and blotted with a clean paper towel. Thanks! It does work, even on brand new red satin Christmas dresses! (12/23/2009)

I have green dry erase marker on my coach suede bag (camel suede color). Lots of marks, not just a small one.

Christal from NC

Answers:

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

I haven't tried it on clothing, but cleaner for glass-top stoves worked to clean the year-old dry-erase marker off a marker board. (12/06/2006)

By kimberly

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Thanks to CNY for your suggestion! Luckily, my stain was mainly the "dust" from the eraser but on brand new carpet, painful none the less. It came out in record time. Thank you, thank you, thank you! (12/27/2006)

By Grateful Mom in Maryland

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

I sprayed my white board cleaner with the kind used to clean dry erase boards and then let it sit for an hour. Then I used Palmolive dish washing soap and rinsed under warm water. The stain came out completely. (01/10/2007)

By Rachael Vieth

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

I tried the Expo dry erase marker to remove a stain from my son's pants and it didn't work. On another pair of pants, I tried alcohol, hand sanitizer, dish wash detergent, and Tide, and none made a budge. I'm hiding the dry erase markers and taking the pants to the dry cleaners! (02/05/2007)

By Anne in L.A.

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Rubbing Alcohol. I accidentally marked across my brand new solid gold tie. I blotted the tie with a paper towel dipped in rubbing alcohol. I kept blotting with dry towel to help it dry. The marker was gone. I had no stain from the alcohol or wrinkling of the material. (04/21/2007)

By Ray Depta

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

I also had Dry erase dust from an eraser on my clothes. I used rubbing alcohol on a washcloth and dabbed and blotted the area (turning the cloth often). Then I put warm water and Trader Joe's dish washing soap on it and rubbed that in. I rinsed it thoroughly in warm water and now there are just a few very tiny black spots left. (05/21/2007)

By Lex of Clovis

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

I got a dark blue dry erase marker across my cotton button-up shirt (very expensive!) so I did this to remove the stain in just five or so minutes:

I soaked the stain in rubbing alcohol for a few minutes and then scrubbed it with cotton balls. This got some of the stain off. I then doused cotton balls in dish washing liquid and then scrubbed for a few minutes and the whole stain was gone. (08/22/2007)

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

My two year old colored on our brand new carpet with black dry erase marker. After reading the posts here I hurried off to find any of the remedy products suggested that I might have in my house. On my way I passed a dumped out box of baby wipes. I decided to try getting the marker off with those. It worked! Who knew that baby wipes were so potent? (10/03/2007)

By cami

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

I tried the rubbing alcohol for the dry erase stains on my daughter's clothes and it did not work. I tried on four different shirts. (10/04/2007)

By shawnte

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

The only thing that worked for me was Murphy's oil soap. You have to let it sit, then take a hard plastic spatula and scrape the ink pigments out of the fibers of the clothes, it takes muscles and lots of scraping. Use a clean paper towel to clean off spatula as you go. (10/09/2007)

By Diane

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

I caught the stains before putting the white chef coats (5 to be exact) into the dryer. Dawn Liquid Soap (straight up) removed most of the stains and bleach took care of the rest. I used a soft damp cloth to scrub the stains with soap and a dry cloth to dab on bleach. (10/12/2007)

By Zina

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

I tried the Murphy's Oil soap and it did take it 98% out! I used a toothbrush to scrub it in a little along with some cold water. I was pretty shocked that it came out. Nothing else was working. I might just try that suggestion about the dry erase cleaner (the stuff in the bottle to clean the board). Sounds like a good suggestion, I would be a little afraid that it would take the color out of the clothes though. (10/31/2007)

By sheila

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Cami got it right. Our micro-fiber ottoman had a blue line as our son decided to trace the line of sunshine that was on it. We read that the baby wipes worked. We had plenty of those and no Murphy's soap. The baby wipes worked! Thank you for posting this stuff. All the blue is gone. Good luck to the next person who needs it. (11/06/2007)

By Was one mad dad!

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Murphy's oil soap did the trick! (11/15/2007)

By Jill

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Thank you for all the suggestions. My daughter got some on a very cute shirt. I was just sick about it because I thought there was no way to get it out. I read all of the posts here and I decided that baby wipes were the least intrusive solution so I tried it. The stain was gone in seconds. Thank you a bunch! (11/24/2007)

By happy mom

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

My son got black dry erase marker on his yellow shirt and I didn't notice it until the next day when it was dry. I tried rubbing alcohol and had no results. Walmart baby wipes also had no effect, so I tried Ajax dish soap. I kept a paper towel on the front of the stain and scrubbed dish soap through the stain from the back with a cloth, moving or refreshing the paper towel as it soaked with soap and ink. I used a lot of soap, but I got all of the ink out of the surface stains and most of it from the spots soaked in black. There are now only two pale gray spots where there were once many black marks. Thanks for the tips! I'll probably go get some Dawn and Murphy's Oil Soap to try next time. :)

P.S. Rubbing alcohol does, however, get permanent marker off of a dry-erase white board.

(11/30/2007)

By HonestMom

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Thanks for the tips. I just successfully removed 3 day old bright pink dry erase marker from my daughter's lavender cotton dress. I doused the stain on the outside of the garment with Murphy's oil soap, then laid it out on a white washcloth and scrubbed from the inside with a tooth brush. I lifted up to check frequently and moved it to fresh spots on the washcloth at least 10 or more times until no more pink showed up on the dress or the washcloth. Good luck. (01/06/2008)

By CC

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

My son just got bright red dry erase marker on his favorite t-shirt and I tried something no one has mentioned yet. It was my favorite cleaning helper from last year and I'm amazed at the stains/spots it will remove, it's Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser. I've used it for cleaning just about anything off my walls and floors (crayon, mystery stains) and I've recently discovered that it can remove crayon from suede-like fabric (my over-sized bean bag), and now dry erase from t-shirts. It only took me four or five swipes with the eraser (don't use water until you've tried it dry first). The stain is gone! I don't know what the Magic Eraser is made of, but it really works. Hope you all have the same success. (01/08/2008)

By Becky

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

I had one small spot of black dry erase on a white stretch oxford shirt of blended fabric. After reading the previous postings, and realizing I don't have most of the things on the other postings like Murphy's oil soap and baby wipes, I tried a logical method.

I used rubbing alcohol to reconstitute the pigment particles and used straight dawn to lubricate them. I placed a dry cloth under the spot wadded so there was a small dip or well for the rubbing alcohol to pool so it didn't run all over. I poured enough alcohol to supersaturate the area and rubbed with my fingertip till it had all soaked through to the cloth. Then I put a dot of dawn (I used one with bleach alternative, but I think regular should work) on the spot, rubbed the soap with my fingertip till it was gone, then scratched at the spot with my fingernail to make the tiny bit of white pasty foam appear and stopped when it disappeared. I then repeated the first and second step several times. At first I thought it wasn't working, but it gradually got lighter till after about ten times (maybe 15) I couldn't find the spot anymore. (01/10/2008)

By saram

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

After reading all these posts I decided to use Murphy's Oil Soap on my son's 100% cotton ridiculously over priced Abercrombie shirt, and guess what, it works. (01/20/2008)

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Easter Sunday, my granddaughter was playing with a dry erase learning book and got several large black marks from the pen on her beautiful light pink Easter dress made of 100% polyester satin. I read the suggestions on this site and decided to test several products on the same type of fabric before actually working on her dress. I called the maker of the dry erase pens and was told that it depends on what the base of the marker ink is. Acetone works on one type and alcohol works on the other.

Therefore, I decided to test on scraps of fabric to see what worked best. I did not find acetone nor alcohol (this works great on ball point pen marks today) worked to remove the dry erase marks. I also tried baby wipes and they did not work. I tried Spot Shot spot remover which works great on carpet stains and it did not work. I tried Mr. Clean's Magic Eraser and found that it did remove some of the dry particles but should be used underneath the marks first, then rubbed on the top of the fabric. However, it did not remove the marks, it only lightened them.

Then I applied Murphy's Oil Soap with a small jewelry brush and kept dipping the brush in the soap and rubbing on the stains, moving a towel underneath where I was working constantly to keep the stain from bleeding back through, until the spots were almost gone completely. Then I took a clean damp sponge, applied Dawn detergent on the sponge then rubbed the spots with the Dawn suds on the sponge and it removed the rest of the stain. Then you have to rinse the sponge until it runs clear and keep blotting the spots with the clean sponge and a clean towel underneath until the soap and residue are all blotted out.

Another tip for problems with removing dry erase marks in learning books or boards after it has dried several days, is to mark over the old marks with the marker again, wait a second and then you can erase both marks at the same time with a dry towel or paper towel. I don't recommend doing the same with marks on fabric as you are simply depositing more residue in the fabric. (03/25/2008)

By Joy Nell Griffin, Home Economist

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

For future use, especially for children, Foohy makes washable dry erase markers. I found some at Walmart. (03/29/2008)

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Yippee! I just tried Murphy's oil soap on my sister-in-law's favorite silk/cotton blend sweater. Took the dry erase marker stain almost completely out. I am so glad her sweater is not ruined. (04/19/2008)

By happy Sisters-in-law

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

After reading the comments on here about Murphy's Oil Soap, I tried it on my daughter's 95% cotton polo and the Dry Erase marker stain came right out! I dabbed it on with a cloth and put the shirt in the wash as usual. It came out as good as new! The stain had even set for a day before I used the Murphy's Oil soap and washed it. :) (05/03/2008)

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

I dropped a marker on my white cotton dress shirt, and without a backup shirt at work, had to wait 7 hours until I got home to treat the stain. I soaked the stain in Murphy's for about 15 min, then used a toothbrush on the back side of the fabric like I had read in earlier posts. It had no effect on the stain. I tried dish soap, more Murphy's, more dish soap...no change.

Finally, I discovered that scraping the stain with my thumbnail seemed to help. It took me about 20 minutes, and the color was all gone, but the scraping sure took its toll on the fabric. The fibers are visibly stretched apart in an area the size of a nickel, and from a distance it looks like a stain that was just not quite removed (which kind of defeats the purpose of trying this in the first place).

I suppose I could have taken it to a dry cleaner, but I did not have confidence that any of my local options would know, with certainty, what to do with dry erase marks.

Anyway, if this happens again I think I will try the pre-soak method and avoid scraping. Good luck with your stain. (05/05/2008)

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

I am so glad I read the suggestion about Murphy's oil soap. Amazing! It came out right away when nothing else worked. Thank you so much. (05/12/2008)

By monica

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Murphy's Oil Soap worked great. This morning I soaked the stain (on my daughter's very cute, brand new, overpriced Gymboree shirt) and rinsed with cold water and scrubbed with a tooth brush. I repeated these steps 4-5 times over the period of about 45 minutes. The stain is 98% gone. Last night I sprayed it with Shout and ran it through the washing machine with hot water - no success. Thanks for the tip! (07/13/2008)

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

My kiddo goes to a private school that requires uniforms. He's come home several times with dry erase marks. The Murphy's Oil Soap is the first thing I've tried that made a dent. I would recommend leaving the fabric dry, soaking with full strength Murphy's then use a brush or even a scraper to get out the ink. This worked even on pants from last school year that have been washed many, many times since the stick person was drawn on them!

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Real simple baby wipes! Works on just about anything. (09/08/2008)

By bob Miller

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Murphy's Oil Soap worked great! So glad I tried it. My daughter came home from school with tons of dry erase marker on her shirt and I was able to get out 99%. The 1% that's left is so faint that no one but me would ever notice. I did have to be patient and scrub several times but it was well worth the effort. Thanks for posting this solution. I had previously tried Amodex on a different shirt with dry erase marker stain with no success. So I found Murphy's Oil Soap much better and much cheaper for the amount you get. (09/26/2008)

By Kathleen

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

I used a dry Magic Eraser to get out dry erase marker from my carpet. Worked like a charm. (10/11/2008)

By Mom from Michigan

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Murphy's oil soap worked great. I scrubbed the fabric with black dry erase marker and it came right out. Thanks to the other person who responded to this one. (11/17/2008)

By Stacie

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Murphy's oil soap worked great! My son got black dry erase marker on his new white t-neck. Came right out : ) Thank You (11/23/2008)

By Julie

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

My daughter got dry erase marker on a cloth chair. I used a dry Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and it came right out. It was amazing. (11/28/2008)

By raegan

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

My toddler was wearing a 100% silk dress from Thailand, got marker on it of course, and to my surprise and pleasure, the baby wipes worked. Thanks! (11/30/2008)

By Trish

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Thanks for the great tip. My son got a dry erase learning book for Christmas and got black dry erase ink on the neck of his brand new red turtle neck. I put Murphy's Oil Soap on it, let it soak in for a few minutes and scrubbed it. 90% of the ink came right out. Then I rubbed a little ivory soap into the remaining stain and threw the shirt in the washing machine. It came out perfectly clean. I really thought that shirt was ruined. Thanks so much for the solution! (01/05/2009)

By Andrea

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

Murphy's Oil Soap all the way! I had black dry erase marker on a stark white children's quilt. I tried shout, oxy clean, shot spot, and even straight bleach, and nothing worked. It was as black as when I started. I read everybody's response here and ran out and got some. The two stains came out 100%. Thank you to everybody who posted their advice. I highly recommend this for stains and will use it from here on out. (01/10/2009)

By Shelley

Dry Erase Marker Stains on Clothing

I used the Murphy's Oil Soap on my son's jeans to get out marker and it faded the area considerably. I would not suggest this. (01/10/2009)